Microsoft's announcement of a fall release for Windows Phone 7 has reduced the number of new Windows Mobile 6.5 phones to a mere trickle, as the company no doubt expected. The older operating system finds a niche, however, in these two Samsung-sourced phones, which offer portrait-oriented QWERTY keyboards and eschew touchscreens.

Though they may be new to U.S. Cellular and Bell Canada, the SCH-i225 Exec and GT-B7330 Messenger are clearly part of a long line of messaging-centric phones from Samsung, including the Blackjack, the SGH-i617 BlackJack II, the SGH-i637 Jack, the SCH-i220, and the Samsung SPH-i350 Intrepid. Probably closely related under the skin, all these devices sport similar portrait QWERTY keyboards, 2.4-inch displays, and the Windows Mobile Standard (non-touchscreen) operating system.

Bell Canada's GT-B7330 Messenger (left) and the earlier Softbank X01SC (right)
(not to scale!)

Bell Canada's GT-B7330 (above left) strongly resembles both the SPH-i350 Intrepid and the (also Samsung-sourced) Softbank X01SC (above right) announced last November. Like these, it has a 2.4-inch display with 320 x 240 pixel resolution, a 3.2 megapixel camera, WiFi, and Bluetooth, according to the carrier.

The GT-B7330 Messenger is again said to include GPS functionality, download data at up to 7.2Mbps, and offer Microsoft's Office Mobile software. The device supports dual-band (850/1900MHz) GSM and WCDMA, says Bell Canada.

Like Softbank, Sprint, and the vast majority of other carriers selling Samsung messaging phones, Bell Canada does not say what processor the Messenger comes with -- an odd bit of coyness given that Samsung is one of the world's largest producers of ARM CPUs and flash memory. The carrier does allow that 320MB of storage is available to the user, while a microSD slot on the phone accepts up to 32GB of memory.

U.S. Cellular's SCH-i225 Exec (left) and the earlier Code i220 (right)
(not to scale)

U.S. Cellular's SCH-i225 Exec (above left), meanwhile, appears extremely similar to the Code i220 (above right) the Chicago-based carrier released last June. Just as on that model, purchasers will find a 2.4-inch screen with 320 x 230 resolution, 128MB of RAM and 128MB of flash (plus a microSD slot accepting up to 32GB), a two megapixel camera, and 800/1900MHz CDMA compatibility.

Again, the device's processor is not specified. However, the SCH-i225 Exec includes autonomous GPS and Bluetooth 2.0, according to U.S. Cellular.

Further information

According to Bell Canada, the GT-B7330 is available for free with a three-year contract, $150 (Canadian) with a two-year contract, or $250 with a one-year contract. More information may be found on the carrier's website, here.

U.S. Cellular says the SCH-i225 Exec costs approximately $100, following a two-year service contract and $70 mail-in rebate. More information may be found on the carrier's website, here.

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